We arrived in Lugansk, Ukraine tired but eager to meet the family we were going to stay with for the next three weeks. Pia MacDonald was waiting for us on the platform as the seven of us piled off the train with all our packs. This was it…month five. I wondered, what would impact me the most this month? Would this be the country I fell in love with?
We arrived at the MacDonald’s house in Lutugino and were instantly welcomed. We piled into the living room and immediately could hear the voices of children playing upstairs. A few minutes later a 3 foot blonde girl appears at the top of the stairs and looks at us shyly and with sweet curiosity.
This was Mercy, their youngest at 4 years old. We would soon get a taste of her hilariously cute sassy personality. Toby, who was 8, would entertain us with his dance skills and vibrant personality. Karianne was quiet and sweet, and her kind heart had a way of warming the hearts of others.
Timothy and Michael both shared a wittiness that oftentimes got carried away with when teasing us. It was all in good fun though.
(Timothy, my teammates Jo Linda and Hugh, Michael)
This was the first time on the race I was staying in a home with a family. Already I felt like this was going to be my favorite month so far. Living in a cozy home with five children AND four cats…it was like heaven to me.
The first week we went with Bruce to the eye glass clinics.
Bruce and an eye doctor would drive hours to poor communities to set up clinics in neighborhood churches to give people the opportunity to get fitted for free eye glasses. The first day my teammate Jill and I basically played her guitar and sang to the people literally all day as they waited in line. They absolutely loved us and didn’t want us to stop singing. Near the end of the day Mercy, along with a few other kids, who were waiting with their parents or grandparents, grabbed some glasses and began to goof around and make silly faces with them.
But as much as I enjoyed the ministry and the day, it wasn’t the highlight of my month.
The English club that Michael and my teammates, Jo Linda and Hosanna, went to on Saturdays was quite interesting. We got to hear Ukrainians discuss corruption in their own country. Many of them talked about how they pay bribes all the time to the police, or to professors so that they get good marks on their grades, and many other instances. Paying off bribes is such a common experience that many people in Ukraine don’t think anything of it. Even so, though many of them paid bribes because it was culturally accepted, many of them wished more Ukrainians would rise up and help put a stop to this corruption. Afterwards we would go to a café and spend more time getting to know the Ukrainians and learning more about their lives. Once after a discussion was over and people were hanging around talking waiting to head over to the café, a Ukrainian man hit on me… Luckily I had three valid excuses as to why I couldn’t go out with him. I didn’t know my address, I didn’t have a phone, and I was leaving for Africa in a week… Yep…that ought to do it. Yet…even that wasn’t the highlight of my month.
The last week we were there we taught at
an English camp.
We basically split up into several classes. Wes, Bruce and I were with the 10-12 year olds. In the mornings we had a ton of fun playing Simon Says, teaching them English vocabulary and verbs, and having a rather chaotic scavenger hunt outside. In the afternoons we played basketball and taught them how to play Ultimate Frisbee and kickball. Every day the kids would flock around us to ask us questions in English, and just to dote on us because they rarely got to see Americans or talk to native English speakers. I think I answered the same exact questions at least 30 times a day. We were like celebrities to them, writing out autographs, passing out our facebook addresses and being pulled aside to get our pictures taken with them. Yet even with all the admiration, even this wasn’t the highlight of my month.
On our last night I was sitting on the couch flustered over what to blog about this month. Every ministry we did this month was great but I didn’t truly feel inspired by any one in particular to blog about. My teammate Jill asked me, “Well what was the highlight of your month? What did you enjoy the most?”
I didn’t have to think long to say that spending time with the MacDonald’s and playing with their kids was what I enjoyed the most. Many times Carrie Ann, Toby and Mercy would gather around me and my laptop and play hidden object games for hours. The first week Jill, Toby, Michael and I started a 2000 piece puzzle that drew many others in as well to help piece it together. We watched movies together in our free time and goofed around the rest.
Bruce and Pia were amazing hosts to us and served us extremely well. Three weeks just wasn’t enough. It wasn’t Ukraine that I fell in love with. It was the MacDonalds. It wasn’t leaving Ukraine that broke my heart. It was saying goodbye to this extraordinary family.
So, Bruce, Pia, Timothy, Michael, Carrie Ann, Toby and Mercy, thank you for having us in your home for the short three weeks that we were there. Thank you for making us feel welcomed and treating us as a part of your family. Thank you for making us laugh and sharing your wisdom with us. Thank you for feeding us amazing food.
I will miss you all greatly. Until we meet again…
My team with the MacDonald family on our last morning.
